Change of Pace
by Butterfly Stomper II
Summary: Haunted Mansion: Ezra has been acting a little strange and it has finally gotten to Phineas. He and Gus go to find out why their friend has been acting so strange, leading to an interesting discovery and a small adventure.  This is a horrible summery
1. Something Has Changed

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the Haunted Mansion, they belong to Disney.

So, this is my first Haunted Mansion Fan Fiction, so bare with me. The idea popped into my head a little while ago and I liked it. It is a look into and an adventure with the hitchhiking trio. I am not a huge fan of the title but the other one I had gave away too much of the plot. I am not sure how long this is going to be but I really hope that I finish it.

So, without further distraction, here is the story.

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Chapter 1: Something has Changed

A car was driving down the road towards the outskirts of the town of Liberty; it was a cool fall day in the early afternoon. This was one of the main roads in the old part of the town, the one known for having the lengthy driveway that led to Gracey Manor. The sun seemed to be floating in and out of the clouds causing shadows to be cast on the ground.

There was a young man behind the wheel, bobbing his head to the music that was blasting from his radio. He was paying little attention to the road he was on. He drummed his hands on the steering wheel fiercely, closing his eyes for a moment as he went along with the rhythm. When he opened his eyes again, he saw what looked like three figures standing in nearly the middle of the road, with what looked like their thumbs sticking out.

"Oh shi-" he shouted as he slammed down on the break and closed his eyes as the car screeched to a jolting halt. With the car stopped, he breathed heavily, the music still blasting through his radio. Turning it down, he stuck his head out of one of his open windows. "Are you ins-" he saw nothing was in front of him. Blinking in confusion, he pulled his head back into his car. Perhaps he was just seeing some after images caused by shutting his eyes too tightly. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the young man began to drive off, not noticing that he had stopped nearly parallel with the road leading to the mansion.

It was only a few moments later that he heard something shuffle around in his back seat. Absentmindedly, he glanced up into his rearview mirror. What he saw caused him to yet again slam on his break, jolting the car to a stop. One of his sports magazines was floating, open as if someone was reading it. His eyes became even wider as he saw the images of two transparent men come into being.

"Oh, it's the bikini edition," said the one holding the magazine. He was a very tall skeletal man with a wide smile displayed on his face. Resting atop his head was a bowler hat that was tilted back, away from his eyes. He wore a long, slightly ragged coat that stopped just below his knees. Around his neck was a bowtie that appeared a little bit too large. Suddenly, the larger man next to him snatched the magazine from his boney hands. "Hey! I was looking at that," the skeletal one commented.

This other one was rather weighted, his pudgy face showing a wide smirk. On his head he wore a top hat that was pushed back away from his face a bit. Stretched around his shoulders looked to be a short cape that was buttoned in the front. Under this, from what could be seen, was a closed coat that was buttoned in the same place that the cape was. Additionally, he had a carpetbag sitting on his lap. "And now I am," he opened his bag. "Though I think I'll save it for later,"

The skeletal man reached for the magazine. "Then give it back, I had it first anyway," they began to struggle with each other over who was going to get it. Both seemed to ignore the driver who was frozen at the sight of them. This was broken by the rattling of some chains that came from the passenger seat next to him. He quickly shot his glance over to a third man that materialized. This one was much shorter than the other two. He sported a long beard that dangled down as he tried to climb over the top of the seat. He wore very ragged clothes and seemed to hang a little loose over him. The rattling was coming from the chain shackled around his leg and attached to a metal ball.

"Give it here! Give it here!" he called out, reaching for the pages that were just out of his reach.

Keeping it out of both of their reaches, though it was a little harder to do with the skeletal one than the dwarf, the plump man spoke. "You know there is only one way to solve this," all of a sudden, the three stopped the fighting and turned to the one who had been observing them. "What do you think?" he asked frankly.

This situation suddenly clicked with the young man and he screamed as the three men slowly faded away, the magazine dropping to the back seat. He turned back to the road and put the pedal to the metal, speeding away.

The three haunts faded back into being at the front of the mansion driveway, all of them howling in laughter. "Did you see his face?" bellowed the plump man as he clutched his sides.

The tall, thin, skeletal one spoke through his cackles. "Mortals are always good for a nice laugh," he adjusted his hat has he leaned against what seemed to be only air.

The smallest of the trio, the one who had called himself Gus, was too busy laughing to say anything.

The three hitchhikers, Phineas Queeg, Ezra Dobbins and Gus Gracey, continued for a little longer before they settled down. Wiping a tear away from his cheek, Phineas spoke. "Wow, that was a good one,"

The tall Ezra sighed slighting, his arms crossed. "Wish I could've kept that magazine, though,"

Phineas chuckled a bit at his friend's words. "You already have that edition, Ez," he smirked and sighed as Ezra spoke again.

"Not in that kind of condition, the one I have is ripped, you can't really see the pictures," he whined playfully.

Phineas shook his head and smiled at the others. "I could go for another, how about the two of you?" despite asking the question, the specter assumed that he already knew their answers.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" the excited dwarf said as he jumped up and down on the phantom ball attached to his leg.

"Nah, I'm gonna head back to the mansion," Ezra spoke with an unneeded stretch. He flashed them his signature skeletal smile. "Knock 'em… dead," he laughed at his own joke, ignored the expression of shock on his larger friend's face, and headed down the driveway, disappearing along the way.

There was a long pause after he had vanished, the other two just looked in the direction he had gone. After a little longer, Gus spoke up. "Where's Ezra goin'?" he asked innocently.

Phineas was at a loss, stunned at the situation. This was defiantly not like Ezra, not the one that he had known. The one he knew would jump head first without warning into cars that didn't stop, leaving the other two behind because they hadn't reacted fast enough. He would then return only moments later with yet another amusing story. These antics had even caused more than one of their mortal victims to crash into a something. None of them had been harmed but that was not the point of it, they had gotten a very good laugh.

The three of them had been known to be nearly inseparable, pulling pranks on the other mansion residence and on each other when not spooking mortals. However, there was something wrong, this latest act topping the other things Phineas had noticed over the past few days. Ezra had been disappearing for periods of time without explanation, returning later not telling the other two anything. He would always seem to have a satisfied and content grin on his face, not his usual wide smile. He also seemed to be distracted by something that was on his mind and this had caused some of their exploits to backfire. However, never would the well-rounded ghost have thought that this would interrupt their favorite pastime.

Without looking down at his small friend, he spoke. "I have no idea," he said very plainly. The confusion that was held in his eyes thinned and transformed into a mixture of determination and being fed up. He turned toward Gus. "But we're going to finally find out,"

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Ok, please read and review, I will hopefully have the next chapter up in a reasonable amount of time, I just want to write more chapters before I put the next one up so I am prepared.


	2. Ghoulish Search

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the Haunted Mansion, they belong to Disney.

Here is the next chapter. It was sort of fun writing this one, well at least one part of it. Anyway, I hope you like it.

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Chapter 2: Ghoulish Search

It was not long after that the two hitchhikers had abandoned the road in favor of the graveyard. The specters were not all that numerous at this time of day, though with the clouds overhead, more were out socializing with each other than normal. The idea had popped into Phineas's head that perhaps Ezra had been seen by the other spooks and they could lead the Gus and him to where he was hiding.

This rather bright idea started to dim as they asked the ghosts around the graves. It was becoming apparent that these haunts were sort of oblivious to what was going on around them. The sounds of disappointing sighs started to become very familiar to the two hitchhikers.

They had recently left the sights of the resident mummy. That conversation had been rather repetitive and long, as it seemed that the pulling out of his brain had translated into his death. Nothing good had come out of it and as they left, the larger ghost heard him ask his neighbor who they were.

It seemed rather odd to see such light and transparent characters move so heavily along the ground, Phineas more so than Gus. This endeavor that they had started looked like it was going to go nowhere

The sound of a throat clearing caught the right ear of Phineas. This too was strange as the dead had no need to do something like that, but it was obvious it was to get his attention. He looked over and then down at what had done this.

It was one of those popup ghouls that he hadn't even noticed. They were called popups because they never left the tombstones that they hid behind and would hop up to scare unsuspecting passersby. This particular one was at the moment, leaning lazily overtop of the gravestone, his head resting on this top of his rag-covered arms. His face was droopy, sagging aged skin being tugged by gravity, or it had been. One of his eyes was perpetually closed as a result of the sagging, while the other one bulged a bit, though at the moment it was half closed. His mouth, normally agape, was shut as the side of his head leaned against the stone and his limb. Over all, he looked tired, like he had woken up too early and couldn't go back to sleep.

Seeing that the sizable ghost had turned and looked at him, his bulging eye glanced up and he moved his head a bit. "I 'ear ya lookin' fer that tall friend of yers," he commented.

Phineas was astonished at the moment, forgetting that he had a task at hand. In all the years of being stuck at the mansion, he never once spoke to one of these beings. He was not quite sure if they were a result of some left over ghostly energy or if they had actually been human once. Perhaps they were what some ghosts turned into after staying there for too long. He saw the creature raise his brow as he waited for an answer, causing Phineas to remember why he was out there. "Oh, yeah, have you seen Ezra?" he asked, feeling a little strange.

The popup nodded his head very slightly. "Yea, I've seen 'im. 'E came by 'ere a little bit ago,"

Phineas widened his eyes. Gus and he had spent the last hour or so going from ghost to ghost with no avail and then this ghoul shows up having seen him. "I wonder why you saw him and the others didn't," he asked, only partly thinking out loud.

"By othas, yer talkin' about those like ya," the ghoul commented. He gave a small sigh then continued. "Ya full bodied ghosties don't really notice us, so if that friend'a yers is 'idin' from ya guys, den 'e's not really carin' or detectin' us little ghoulies,"

Crouching, Phineas became eye level with the spook. "Where is he? Did you see where he went?" he asked impatiently.

The ghoul went silent, lazily looking the hitchhiker up and down. He was contemplating if he should tell him. What would he get out of it anyway? None of those self-absorbed haunts ever paid attention to him or the other pop ups. He studied this carpetbag carrying one, noticing the concern that was hidden behind his eyes. The popup had seen them around, sometimes getting a kick out of the tricks they pulled on the other residence; it was strange to see such concern in this place of death. Or perhaps it was the idea of change that was scaring this full-bodied haunt. A lazy sigh escaped from his lips, honestly, the ghoul had nothing better to do.

The pop up shifted his position and then lifted one of his thin arms, pointed off to just beyond the curve of the mansion. "Ova there," he droned. "'E was 'eadin' to the old stables. 'E looked like 'e didn't wantta be seen,"

A wide smile grew onto Phineas's face and he abruptly stood up, looking in that direction. Finally, they had a lead. "Gus, I know where we're going!" he called, only to notice that the small man was nowhere to be seen. "Um…. Gus?"

Not too far away, there was a loud shirk that sounded feminine and mortal. Phineas turned his head in that direction and saw Gus in the distance, waving goodbye to a mortal girl who was running away screaming. A small sigh escaped his lips and he started to walk away, only to pause. "Oh, um," he turned and looked at the popup ghoul. "Thanks," there was another pause as he studied his face. "You know, I have something that could help you with that soggy skin. I'll give you a discount for helping us,"

The ghoul's expression shifted to a lazy yet intense glare, making Phineas turn and swiftly move away from him. It dawned on the hitchhiker why he had actually never spoken to these ghouls; they were scary, even to a ghost. He caught up to Gus who was inspecting an empty box that had holes in it. "What was that all about?"

Gus looked up to him. "Just a guest, look," he pointed to box. "She brought me a gift,"

Phineas raised an eyebrow. "O…k," after an awkward pause, he shook his head clear of thoughts and spoke again. "Come on, we have a lead as to where Ezra might be going when he just disappears," he pointed off in the other direction.

Immediately forgetting his new "gift," Gus followed Phineas through the gravestones, toward the other side of the house. This leading them right to the old stables.

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Please read and review, thanks


	3. Ezra's Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the Haunted Mansion, they belong to Disney.

Chapter three, sorry it took me longer to put it up, my mind has been formulated another story but I will try my best to put enough of it to work on putting the rest of this story together.

Anyway, enjoy

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Chapter 3: Ezra's Secret

The mansion stable was no longer the home for the resident invisible horse, which now wondered through the graveyard when it was not attached to the hearse. All that building did presently was shelter the random mortal visitor who did not have enough common sense to run off the land after being frightened by the graveyard ghosts. None of the spooks hung around there, having the memory that it would smell like the animals that used to be there. Anyway, there was no reason to be there since all of the fun was out amongst the tombstones.

Phineas and Gus moved closer to the building, trying to be as quiet as possible. Though, the fact that they were ghosts helped quite a bit. Just upon reaching one of the doors, the larger ghost stopped the other rather abruptly. "Did you hear that?" he asked, looking down at his companion.

The two of them leaned closer; they heard a sound from the inside. It came across like there was someone talking to someone else, but in a seemingly singsong tone. After another pause, Gus looked up. "It sounds like Ezra…" he commented.

Phineas promptly grabbed Gus and pulled him behind a wall, crouching low so they would not be seen. Going across the floor, Gus clinging to the ball and chain so it would not make a sound, the two of them stopped right next to the entrance of a stable area where they heard someone speak from inside.

"Seeing you always makes the day a little less boring," it was definitely Ezra. He spoke in a sincere pleasant voice that was not normally heard coming from his lips. After a short pause, a response came in the form of a small meow.

Forgetting that he was trying to remain hidden, Phineas stuck his head through the wall and into the stable area to see what that had been. He had yet to hear of the mansion having a resident ghost cat. He came upon the sight of a back, causing him to yelp in surprise, which in return caused the owner of the back, Ezra, to turn and look at him. "Phineas?" he uttered. "W-What are you doing here?"

Before the plump haunt could answer, Gus jumped into the stable, or at least tired to, being thrown back a bit by the ghostly weight of the ball. Scrambling to his feet, he spoke. "We heard a cat!"

"A cat?" Ezra repeated. His body shifted a bit, as if he was moving in front of something but was trying to make it look like he hadn't. "I have no idea what you're talking about,"

Phineas had pulled himself through the wall and was at the moment, dusting himself off. Adjusting his top hat so it was in the right place, his gaze fell upon his tall friend, or rather through his friend. "Point of advice, Ez, if you are trying to hide something, make yourself solid first," Sure enough, close to the wall, on a small pile of old hay, was a little kitten, no more than 4 or 5 weeks old and very much alive. He was orange, with patches of white over his body and he was very thin, seeming like he hadn't eaten much in some time.

Ezra looked through himself at the bundle of thin fur that was behind him, and let out a sigh. "You always ruining my fun," he muttered, throwing the false statement at them. He moved aside so they could see the mammal better.

Phineas ignored his comment, taking an inquisitive interest in the little thing, while Gus was on his hands and knees, getting down so he could look at it better. They watched as the kitten let out several mews while wobbly tried to walk over to Ezra. This brought a smile to the haunt's face as he reached over and rubbed the top of the animal's head with one finger.

"So cute!" Gus commented as he tried to reach over and pet it. Ezra noticed the force that the small hitchhiker was going to use and snatched the cat out of reach.

"Hands off, EJ," he commanded, still holding the kitten.

Gus balled his fists and reached for the chain shackled around his leg. Before he could do anything, Phineas stepped on the chain and drew the attention away from the impending fight. "EJ?" he questioned, planning to start a larger conversation.

Ezra placed the living thing on the ground in front of where he was sitting and then looked up at his friend. "It stands for Ezra Jr.," he gave him a wide smile.

Had Phineas been alive, the slap he gave to his forehead would have given him a headache for the rest of the day. Gus laughed lightly at his reaction and did not notice the glare he received from the plump spook. There was a sigh and Phineas turned his attention back to the skeletal one, only to see that he was holding a piece of straw and moving it in front of the cat's face. The animal's large eyes watched the end of the straw with an intense focus, moving into a pouncing position. This display caused a grin to come to the face of the well-rounded haunt but he quickly shook his head so he could focus himself. "Ez, how long have you had the animal?"

Ezra looked up from what he was doing with the kitten; the whole scene was fascinating since the animal had apparently grown rather attached to something that was not even vaguely alive. "I found him about four days ago and he came right over to me, didn't you? Yes you did," the last part was more aimed at the cat and he rubbed it's nose, causing the creature to pull back.

The display greatly disturbed Phineas, having never seen this side of Ezra before. The mischievous, risqué, quick-witted crook that he knew seemed to have melted away into some guy baby talking a cat. It really didn't seem right. After rubbing his forehead, he spoke again. "That thing is alive, right?"

Ezra glanced over. "Well, duh, you have eyes,"

The plump ghost glared at him and then continued. "So, have you fed him yet?"

There was a long pause. Ezra stared off into space as he tried to comprehend the word. He hadn't eaten anything in decades, so that term was foreign to him. Was he really supposed to remember that mortals needed to eat to live? "Um…" his eyes shifted around the stable. "Well… you know, he's a cat, he can hunt… right?"

"This is why the dead don't care for the living, some fundamental things that tend to slip our minds because we've been deceased for too long," Phineas stated. "And also, that creature is a baby, at this age, their mother's or caretakers are looking after them and feeding them, they can't take care of themselves," he seemed to be oddly knowledgeable about the subject, though, he was always the one who knew useless facts about the world.

Ezra fumed and stood up sharply, startling the kitten, which jumped just a bit. Gus was going to take this time to cuddle the cat, but his chain was still under Phineas's foot, making him fall on his face.

"What did you expect me to do?" Ezra spat. "This cat comes over to me for some companionship, and I was suppose to ignore it? How long have you known me?"

Phineas glared up at him. "I thought you would use some common sense,"

"Common sense? Me?" Ezra questioned. He never liked fiercely arguing with Phineas and whenever they did, he would try to add some light-heartedness to it before it got out of hand.

There was a pause between them as Phineas rubbed the bridge of his nose. Before he could speak again, he felt something pulling under his foot and a voice. "Get off!" it commanded. He looked down at Gus, he was tugging at the chain he was still standing on. He lifted his foot, which sent the small ghost tumbling backwards. Looking a little disoriented for a moment, Gus sat up to notice he had landed right next to the cat. A wide smile revealed some crooked teeth and he reached for the living creature.

Ezra was about to tackle his buddy to protect the creature when Phineas stopped him; at which point his noticed how gently the bearded ghost was petting the cat. The scrawny creature began to purr very lightly. Ezra was still a little edgy at the sight of Gus petting his precious EJ but he remained where he was standing. Meanwhile, Phineas had finally finished mentally analyzing the situation. The sight of Gus petting the cat made him second-guess himself a bit and he broke the silence. "You know, Ez, if we work together, maybe we can pull this off," he commented.

The skeletal ghost turned and looked at him, a little confused. "Did you just completely change your mind?" he asked. The large spook scowled at his friend's comment and Ezra put up his hands defensively. "What? It just seems out of character for you, Phinny,"

"Hey, don't talk to me about being out of character, Mr. I cuddle kittens when no ones looking," he pointed an accusing finger at Ezra.

"One kitten," he corrected the larger spook, holding up his boney index finger.

Phineas smirked and shook his head. "Anyway, you're very stubborn and I know by now that trying to change your mind is close to impossible," he paused and sighed at the victorious grin that Ezra had on his face, then continued. "So, as your friend, I feel it's my duty to make sure that you don't kill this poor mixed up creature,"

"Hey!" the skeletal hitchhiker acted offended. "For you information, I took care of pets when I was alive,"

Phineas crossed his arms. "And what happened to all of them?" Ezra's blank look was all that he needed to answer the question. As his tall friend tried to wrack his brain, Phineas looked down at Gus. He was ignoring the conversation, imitating what Ezra had been doing with the piece of straw, moving it in front of the cat's face. He looked back. "Also, Ez, it'll be refreshing to do something different,"

The idea of sharing the cat did not agree with the tall spook at first but then he realized that doing this would open up more free time to spend with the kitten. Having something living around seemed to breath fresh air into the place, even though he didn't breath. He glanced back at Phineas and gave him a smirk. "It is very refreshing," he commented. Bending down, he grabbed the tiny ball of fur and lifted him off the ground. Gus didn't agree with being interrupted but the cat was now out of his reach as Ezra focused on keeping the feline from slipping out of his arms. "So, then," he started as he pet the top of the EJ's head. "Where do we start?"

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So there it is, please read and review and I will try to work quickly on chapter 4


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